Update on Bellaboo

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to post an update. She did fine. The surgery did not last long at all and boy was she TICKED off when they woke her up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She truly is feisty like her Mommy! :) However, she is not feeling too well now. They said to expect a little congestion... well... she had ALOT going on last night. So much that I was awake ALL night long "jump starting" her breathing. Seriously, she was SO congested that she had to breathe through her mouth, but her throat is sore from surgery, so she would stop breathing. Then her body would surge adrenaline (or in most instances, I would nudge her) and she would start back up again. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeff woke up in the middle of the night sick as a dog with sinus stuff. He said he felt so bad he was not expecting to wake up this morning! So, when he went in this morning to see our ENT, Isabella and I tagged along so she could get checked out. Turns out, she must have either caught something at the surgery center or she aught what jumped on Jeff. Now, she is battling congestion from surgery AND a sinus infection, running a low-grade fever and has a sore in the corner of her mouth from one of the apparatuses they used. NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!!!!

I also want to share something that happened to her Saturday (yes, her Gotcha Day). I started to not post this because of my guilt or of what some of you may say or think. But... I feel if I can change on person's mind about this, it will be worth any backlash I receive. We were in Target with my mom, sister, Jake and my aunt looking for costumes for our Fall Festival. Bella wanted to sit in the back (or is it front?... depends on your perspective, I guess) of the basket. My aunt was pushing and I was in front of Bella. I stepped away from her for a split second and, as I turned around, I watched my precious baby girl fall out on her face. Literally, fall face first onto the Target floor. I immediately screamed and picked her up and started running. My mom stopped me and told me to look at her and to let my aunt look because she is a nurse. What I saw made me nauseated. She had the BIGGEST hematoma on her forehead above her right eye that I have ever seen. I seriously did not know that your head could stretch out this far. My aunt told me to get ice and I started running for the food area. We got ice on it, the personnel called an ambulance and we were transported to the hospital.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. I never should have put her in there and you are right. But I know many people who do. That does not make it right and NOTHING you could say to me will make me feel any more guilty than I still do and probably will feel for the rest of my life. They did a CT scan and everything was fine. They could not believe she did not lose consciousness, did not vomit or have any neurological issues. I KNOW the Lord has his hand on her despite my stupidity. I WILL NEVER put her in that part of the basket again. She is like the Houdini and is able to shimmy out of anything you use to restrain her. That is why I figured she was safer there than the other part. I learned that is not the case. From now on, I will shop without her, or she will be outside of the basket.

She now has a knot on her forehead and a black eye. She looks pitiful and I only tell you this in hopes that you may avert this happening to your child or a friend's child. Please do not leave a comment telling me how stupid I was or what a bad parent I am. You may think it, but my mind does not need to hear it. If you would, though, please pray that I get the image of her falling and me not reaching her in time out of my head. It haunts me all night and throughout the day. I praise God that He had His hand on her and that he kept her safe.

Thanks to all of you that prayed for her. Please continue to pray for her speedy healing. Thursday is our Forever Family Day and I am still unsure of how to spend it. Please leave a comment letting me know how you have or how you plan to with your family.

Happy Gotcha Day, Isabella!

Today (depending on when blogger publishes it... but it should be Saturday) is Bella's Gotcha Day. It is the day that we picked her up from the hogar, where she spent the first 13 months of her life, and the day we never had to bring her back. She physically joined our family FOREVER. We have decided to celebrate Gotcha Day AND Forever Family Day. Her FFD is Oct. 30. It is the day that we landed with her in America and we were all reunited as a family. Jake did not accompany us on our pickup trip. I would like to take a trip down Memory Lane and she "what a difference a year TRULY makes". The above picture is one of my favorites. This was taken on her birthday this year.
This was also taken on her birthday, but I post it for a different reason. While her transition was, for the most part rather easy and smooth, the next picture will show you how far we have come. In this pic she is cheek-to-cheek with me and her arm is squeezing me. Scroll down to the 3rd pic and you will see quite the opposite. That one was taken on our pickup trip and you can see her hesitance and rigidness. She is only close to me because I had her in the sling. Now she hugs me because she loves me and WANTS to, not because some strange lady is pulling her close. I did not realize this then, but I began to look back at pictures tonight and it just popped out at me. A year has changed this precious little girl SO much and it has changed this Mommy SO much, too!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this picture. It makes ALL the hell and heartache we went through SO worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This does not even look like my Isabella. When I look in those big, brown eyes, I see very little emotion... very little life. A BIG contrast to the big, brown eyes in the first picture.

As some of you may remember, this is what she did if Jeff so much as looked her way.

Now.... she can't get enough of her Daddee (as she pronounces his name). The other morning as he was leaving for work, she kissed him bye and pulled him close to hug him. She said "Love you, Daddee". Jeff said this was the first time she had pulled him in for a hug. Up until that point, he was the initiator of hugging between the two of them. That showed me that we are still gaining ground that we lost in our time of being away from her.
This was taken when we got back to the hotel with her. She looks so confused and scared.

"Not quite sure of these 2 people"...

Here is where I KNOW she made the connection with me and who I was to her. This is how I fed her every time I visited. I made it a point to keep this the same. We would always lock eyes and everything and everyone else would fade... it was always just ME and HER at feeding time. I know God used that to connect us and he used it that day to show her little mind and heart that connection. I am SO thankful for that. I will NEVER forget that moment in time. It was supernatural.

I am so proud to be her Mommy and so thankful that God's ways are ALWAYS best. While I was fighting with infertility and crying "Why?!, He was patient with me and knew that my tears would one day turn to joy when I met His BEST for our family. I can honestly say, the only tears cried here these days, are tears of joy and amazement that I am SO richly blessed. And that is why I will spend today with my daughter, my son, and my husband praising my God for his "plan to prosper me and not to harm me; plans to give me hope".

Surgery

They love each other SOOO much!

She looks like she is almost a teenager! Not really... but she DOES look all grown up!

We found out today that Bella needs her adenoids removed. She was having nose bleeds over the past 2 weeks and I brought her in to see the doctor. After a blood test and some discussion, we realized it was the nose spray the ENT had given me back in September to try to shrink her adenoids and stop the runny noses she was getting. Well, it stopped the runny noses, started the nose bleeds and did not shrink the adenoids. The blood work showed that she is a little anemic since she will not eat red meat and the doctor wants us to add a vitamin with iron. (I must say that I was relieved that that was all it was in her blood work.) She sent me to the ENT because her tonsils are big, but not infected.

Let me give you a little history. Bella has always snored and sounded like a old man breathing. We first visited her at a month old and she was doing it then. I even asked our attorney to have her checked out in Guatemala, but she refused. Anyway... she is starting to have mild apnea's and "choke" in her sleep. She is always breathing through her mouth and has trouble chewing with her mouth closed. Well, the ENT did a x-ray and, man, you should see her adenoid pad. HUGE!!!!! He said her tonsils are large for a child her age, but they will not remove them until she is at least 2 1/2 years old. He said their is less risk of complications. Jake had his removed at 2 1/2 years old. He said he thinks this will help with the snoring and mouth breathing, but will not eliminate it until the big 'ole tonsils are gone. I decided to do it Monday since she is well is right now. Recovery time is 2-4 days and I will be home with her. I am going to use up my 4 sick days that I am allowed, but it will be worth it. Jeff is out of vacation and sick days. I wouldn't have been able to leave her anyway.

I find out tomorrow what time the surgery will be and I will post it for those of you that want to pray. I am a little nervous about her being put to sleep since I do not know her family medical history. But, I know it is a minor surgery and could be alot more serious. I will keep you posted and thanks, in advance for your prayers.

THANKS SBP and the saga of the 5th broken bone...

To my SBP: BIG thanks to you!!!! My kiddos LOVED their goodies!!! Isabella jumped up and down so much you would have sworn it was Christmas morning over here. Jake, of course, was thrilled with his TN Titans shirt. He wore it Saturday and tried to sneak it on for church Sunday morning. :) I had a horrible day the day it arrived. It was so nice to drive up and see the package waiting for us. It could not have come at a better time. My husband tried to google the return address so he could figure out who sent it, but I would not allow it! LOL I like surprises and want to wait for the unveiling. Now... I just have to return the love to my SBP. I plan to do that this weekend. I hope they enjoy theirs as much as we enjoyed ours! Thanks again!!!!!! (I wanted to post pics, but blogger is NOT cooperating with me tonight.)

Jake broke his pinkie finger on his right hand (and, yes, he IS right-handed!) last Sunday. He was playing football with Jeff and his sister and tried to block the ball from Jeff (he was successful!). I spent my Columbus holiday in the doctor's office for 4 hours with 4 children. I was watching my friend's 2 boys. They behaved well, but you can only keep 4 children under the age of 9 quite and still for so long. This is the 5th bone he has broken in his fingers. They would not cast it because he did not break it at the growth plate, but just above it. It WAS the only bone NOT broken at the growth plate. Anyway, the doc told him to be careful and stay still so that it could heal. YEAH RIGHT. For those of you that know Jake, that is NOT going to happen . He lives life WIDE OPEN. So, we return in 2 weeks (Halloween) and will see if it is healed.

That is all for now. I will try to post some new pics soon, but my few readers know that I have good intentions, but life usually interrupts them.... ;)

Birthday Pics... better late than never! :)

As promised, here are birthday pictures. As I made this montage, I could not help but cry tears of joy as I thought back to this time last year. Things were really bad with our adoption and we could only see the end through the eyes of faith. God is faithful and these pictures prove it! What a time of celebration we had this year.

"We love you, Jake and Isabella.... you are truly gifts straight from God!"

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